Damon asserts that it "isn't responsible" to multiply a January payout by 12 to get projected annual payouts.

That's an odd claim because PERS provides monthly payouts to retirees based on a defined formula. PERS retirees don't go to the mailbox each month wondering how much their check will total - retirees receive the same defined payout each month. While over- and under-payouts do occur in any large system, such anomalies are the exception, not the rule.

Thus, multiplying a January payout by 12 isn't merely a responsible way to make an annual projection - it's the only reasonable way to do so.

But why put any projection online now, instead of waiting until year's end? Damon answered that question recently, writing in her column: "To avoid transparency is to thwart accountability."

PERS bureaucrats continue to avoid complete transparency. NPRI, however, has long worked to increase public understanding of the PERS system and, thus, increase its public accountability.